Constitution of Northern Ireland Act

The Oxford Companion to Irish History | 2007 | 700+ words | Copyright

Constitution of Northern Ireland Act (1973), passed by the United Kingdom Parliament following the closing of Stormont. The act was intended as the basis for a comprehensive settlement in Northern Ireland, replacing most of the extant clauses of the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It created a 78‐seat Assembly, and sought the support of the Catholic minority through proportional representation and power‐sharing in government. Assembly powers were to be less than those of Stormont, initially excluding policing, justice, and elections. The guarantee enshrined in the Ireland Act of 1949, that Northern Ireland would not cease to be part of the UK without the consent of the parliament of Northern Ireland, was modified slightly to require ‘the consent of the majority of the people of Northern Ireland’. Assembly elections took place in May 1973, and the ill‐fated Sunningdale agreement later sought to implement the power‐sharing scheme.

A. C. Hepburn

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